Staying in 9th gear when heavy

I haul the containers and I'm not afraid to down shift I shift to 10. If I see a hill I try to speed up a little bit to get a running start. And the truck is going to feel sluggish anyway you're hauling containers and with a Maxx force. It's just how you want to drive. I doubt you'd mess anything up in the next 5 years but later on you might have lots of problems.

 

Do you "wear out" faster when running, or walking?

Are you doing it wrong? Yes. It is "unsafe"? No. Can the practice lead to unemployment? Yes.

 

Shift to 10th, then as you slow down downshift on the hill. Dont wreck your truck because your a lazy shifter. Fuel economy plumets at 1800 rpm so the truck is costing much more to run. The owner can plug into the ECM and see how much time you spend in top gear. If i found out my driver was doing this, I would fire him. More wear on the the truck, more fuel. Unless you drive slow enough for 9th (1500 rpm in 9th) then you should be using 10th. Either drive an Auto or shift when you need to, but over revving in 9th is just plan stupid.

 

The truck I drive regularly that has an ISX engine and the others with ISX engines in them all have a sweet spot at or around 1600, not 1200. The one regular truck I get assigned (2014 WS 4900 ISX 13 sp) I get to haul heavy stuff with gets driven near that sweet spot.

 

He is in a prostar so I assume he has the Maxxforce 13. It is a low rpm engine that pulls well down to 1000rpm:




There isn't much reason to go over 1400rpm other than to hot rod -- to cruise at 1800 is just wasting fuel wearing out the engine faster.